Journey is very much similar to Genesis in the sense that they both have pasts that sound nothing like their presents. Growing tired of the psychedelic-drug-hazed sound of Carlos Santana and his band of refugee musicians, Neal Schon and Greg Rolie packed it up one day and said, "Later, losers, we're gonna start our own band." And so they did, though it would take four albums and new lead singer by the name of Steve Perry for them to have any mainstream success. But mainstream success is not what makes a band special. What makes a band cool is artistic expression, and if you want anything like that from Journey, you have to go back to the days when progressive rock was king and Steve Perry was unknown. The rapid shift in movement from their progressive sound to their pop song was immediate: with the addition of Steve Perry, Journey became an entirely different back. This is where Genesis differs, as their sound gradually shifted throughout time; however both bands had the problem of a stagnate sound. But before any of their songs were anywhere near placing on the charts, there were a trilogy of albums virtually unknown by any casual Journey fan who thinks the band ended and died with Steve Perry. Next is a crunchy, rough-cut rock album that sounds more like Yes than Journey, and listening to it is a little surreal.

When it comes to Journey, I'm more or less a Steve Perry fanboy, and I feel like anything that was released after 1995's Trial By Fire is a hypocritical piece of garbage! Okay, that's not true; however, I still don't really listen to anything beyond that. That said, I can stomach listening to pre-Steve Journey, and the sound is incredible. I'm a big fan of progressive rock (see reviews of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, and Yes), and it is still so strange to hear a band known for arena rock doing that basement-sounding, guitar-driven complex composing.  By the time this album was released, the band was under fire to release an album with hits, and while I think its personally chock full of them, they weren't gaining any radio airplay. The first thing you'll notice about pre-Perry Journey is the immediate dusty, far-out vocal stylings of Mr. Greg Rolie, who may not be as skilled as their future leader, provides us with a suitable and ultra-cool power that Journey never had passed Evolution. What start this album off is a downtempo piano mixed with a nice bass and soft hi-hat: Spaceman begins with David Bowie-ish rock sound with a really nice motif running through it: Oh, I'm not a spaceman... The one hint of future-Journey comes in the subtle guitar twists and turns from Neal Schon, but aside from that, this album proves just how different the two eras are from one another. After a cool rock song, they delve into People, which gets into the music pretty heavily, and by the middle of this song, you're already completely wiped out. As cool as the song is, it sounds like the band didn't know when to say no and included every little guitar pluck they possibly could throughout this record.

Next concentrates mainly on the music and letting it tell a story than it does on lyrics and vocals. In fact, before the Pink Floyd-esque vocals drone on I Would Find You, you get used to the idea of a track being instrumental. Unfortunately, the biggest issue with this album is quite apparent by the third song: this band has very little to its name. Coming directly off of Santana, Journey had almost no time to develop a style, and by their third album, they still had no voice in rock at all. If they don't sound the squishy band Yes, then they sound like Queen. And if they don't sound like Queen, they strongly remind me of Pink Floyd. And if they don't sound like Pink Floyd, I'm sure you could find remnants of King Crimson, plus you have Greg Rolie doing his damn-hardest to pull of his best Davidbowiepetergabrielbryanferry. Released in 1976, Next is the perfectly not-a-blend of every long-winded progressive rock band up to that point, and it leaves a lot to be desired. Only Neal slightly rises above it with his power-house guitar, but not before very long, as he quickly slumps back into his comfortable sense of being absolutely derivative.


Okay. Enough bashing, because this album is still awesome. Hustler flat out, point-black kicks your ears in the face, then kicks your ass. The hard guitar opening is crazy good over Greg's vocals, before the mid-section packed with drums comes in. Neal wails away hardcore, and the swell of progressive funk-metal that comes from his fingertips is unbelievable. It makes me wish that Journey could have gone further into this profession, even though I know that would mean canceling out the band's later work. Nickel and Dime is pre-Perry Journey at their best really. The song is an eerie instrumental song that sounds very much like Yes, as it drowns and beeps and shakes throughout after it finishes up a weird sample of The Sound of Music's My Favorite Things. Before closing up shop, though, Neal Schon has something he'd like to say in the form of album closer Karma. It's definitely a cool track, if only to hear the arrogant guitarist try and sing. It's not bad, but he sound definitely stick to playing music and complaining about Steve Perry than trying to harmonize.

JUDGING
Aside from a few mis-steps Next is a very impressive rock album with some real promise that wasn't ever truly capitalized on. It's a Catch-22 because I'm a die-hard Steve Perry fan, but I can't help by long for more albums like this one. Journey never sounded so hard. On the downside, it's just a hodge-podge musical salad of every other progressive rock band in the mid-70s. Sidenote: the record cover to their debut album fits the sound on this album more than the designated one for this one. I mean, a Wal-Mart portrait style jacket? Really?

Spaceman (5 Stars)
People (4 Stars)
I Would Find You (4 Stars)
Here We Are (4 Stars)
Hustler (5 Stars)
Next (2 Stars)
Nickel and Dime (5 Stars)
Karma (4 Stars)

OVERALL SCORE: 4 STARS (4.1-)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening